When Jakes Willis, CEO of entry-level recruitment company Lulaway, was looking for a T-shirt at a Stuttafords outlet in Sandton, he noticed that all the department store's sections had very little stock left, as it prepared for the closure of all its shops. "Every other customer coming in was asking employees: 'What's next?' And they don't really know what's next," said Willis. "We know that a big issue in South Africa is the lack of a streamlined process for matching skills with the right people. "There was an outpouring of sympathy from all the clients coming into the store and I was wondering, how do we capitalise on this?" This is why Willis, along with other retailers, including Mr Price Group, Truworths, discount apparel retailer PQ Clothing and Dischem, have offered to place 15% of about 800 people who will lose their jobs when Stuttafords closes its doors at the end of this month. Dire straits While Lulaway will take on 50 people to create a call centre, the other retailers ...
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